As everyone is likely deep into A3 by now, I just wanted to remind you that your deadline is end of day (Pacific) Sunday, November 29th.  Please email your submission directly to me.

One reason this is such a hard deadline is that, immediately following, I will be distributing your submission to a few of your peers for their EVA evaluation as part of the M12 Venture Forum.   Please review the outline for M12 to make sure you understand how the Venture Forum works and what is expected of you.  Some points to consider:

1.  If you feel uncomfortable about your submission being distributed for peer evaluation (exposure of intellectual property or other good reason) please let me know soon.

2.  Note that you need to compose and post an “elevator pitch” portion of your A3 assignment in this weblog by the same deadline (meaning, convey your message in 30 seconds or less (150 words max) to entice people to learn more).

Please respond here or email me if you have any questions about A3 or the upcoming Venture Forum.  I will be marking your A3 submissions.

DavidV

A VERY new (pitches are not quite public yet) addition to bplans.com this section of the site allows users to post video pitches to the community to be evaluated (looks like 522 has some competition).  With a host of other free information on pitches and business plans, this site would be well worth a browse in preparing to develop your own pitch.  Welcome video by Tim Berry gives some solid thoughts on developing a pitch.

bplans.com pitch site

As UBC IT Services is structured and operate very differently from a business venture I chose to look at the pitch from a budgeting and an internal planning perspective.  Given the unique nature of this pitch I also chose to omit the competitive products and exit strategy aspects.

EO Credibility

Ted Dodds definitely has a vision of what university-level IT should be and how it should operate.  It is clear that he is confident in his abilities as well as his department and has developed the lines of communication to succeed in meeting UBC technological needs.

Management Team

It is clear that Dodds has a clear vision of how his department should be managed as he describes the community-based strategies he has employed.  By assigning an E-learning group to each faculty I think his department is better able to meet the needs of those groups and thus succeed as a team in the long-run.

Business Model

I think that UBC’s IT services are not only a vital part of the University’s ongoing success but the department has expanded its operational model into the commercial realm which can greatly improve the feasibility of the department.  From a business model standpoint this serves as strong indicator of success.

Beyond their integral role, giving voice to all the stakeholders involved with IT services including administration, management, business and, most importantly, the students further improves their chances of meeting their needs, an act which should define their success as a department.

Market Readiness

As the interviewer states first off E-Learning is a huge part of modern education and Dodds is clear that E-Learning is a “mainstream” and mature component of business and education.  As such, it is clear that Dodds sees his department as an integral piece of UBC.

The fact that UBC has managed to sell aspects of their IT developments, such as WebCT, to commercial companies further proves that not only is the education market ready for these innovations but so are commercial businesses.  I think that in many ways his group is already succeeding not only are new services getting to individuals and departments in the university but they have managed to sell off some of their more successful components to bring revenue back to the school.

Technical Innovation

I think Dodd’s community and open-source software strategies are refreshing to hear.  Historically development along these lines have been hard to develop and commercialize but by focusing on these methods as a source of innovation, direction and production he could be tapping into the individuals that need and care most about the services his group is developing.

Overall Investment Status

To be honest it would be hard for me to argue against focusing on UBC’s IT branch as an important part of the university’s plan going forward.  I am sure Dodds, the interviewer and you, my fellow classmates, respect the increased importance of Internet communication technologies we have observed recently in higher education.  I would be hard-pressed to pass on “investing” or rather allocating increased funds to further their services as Dodds has made a strong argument for its importance to both UBC and business.

http://www.paulgraham.com/fundraising.html 

Sage advice from Paul Graham

http://www.bdo.ca/library/venture/documents/Jun07-MakeYourBestPitch.pdf

Polish your pitch  from the Financial Post

http://www.venturepitches.com/

A beta site with some sample pitches. Youtube meets VCs.

Ingenia Training

As a CEO, I found Ramona Materi personable and she seemed to know her market. However,  I didn’t find her very charismatic or interesting to listen to. I did enjoy having the power point to refer to as she spoke. She talks about Ingenia’s core team and it seems that they are capable, well-trained people. The fact that Ingenia contracts work out can be a plus and a minus. Contracting means you can hire people only when you need them but on the other hand, you have to rely on their availability.

Materi seems to have done her home work and have an understanding of   the market. Ingenia is attempting to enter an area of the world that is growing and that can be quite exciting but also risky. However, the CEO states that they will be targeting multinationals and Asian banks in an attempt to limit the risks. I would have liked to know more about what makes them stand out from their competition – what is their competitive edge?

Materi never talks about an exit strategy. She does have a goal – to enter the market in Vietnam – but she does not mention plans beyond that.

While I find that Materi’s pitch had some positive aspects, as an EVA I was not convinced that the positive outweighed the negative or unknown. I did not feel inspired to let go of my money and would not likely invest in this company.

EO Credibility

Yes, the speaker definitely displays confidence in Recombo’s ability to reach goals and achieve.  It is clear that Brad McPhee knows his product, the market and potential problems his business may face.

Management Team

The management team of Recombo is not discussed heavily but Brad does mention that he has a small team of experts and is looking to expand.

Business Model

Recombo prides themselves as a company that “plays well with others” both in how they and their systems operate.  This sharing is facilitated by their contract negotiations and their Content Integration Router platform.  McPhee explains that this router facilitates communication and integration of products like learning management systems and performance evaluation systems with the potential of allowing published content to be shared among Recombo’s customers.

Brad McPhee offers multiple examples of how his product can serve existing markets and make the common problem of integrating content from different systems using their infrastructure.  With this in mind it is clear that Recombo has found a need and utilized some creative business and technical strategies to progress their business.

Competitive Products

McPhee seems confident that there is a big market for his company’s services and products.  It is clear that he can offer a level of integration the learning management market rarely sees, allowing communication across platforms and systems.

There are many companies using learning management and content systems in their human resources and training sectors although Recombo gives no direct numbers within this pitch is can be assumed that with a small, focused company Recombo could offer these new services at competitive prices.

Market Readiness

They have been struggling in the past but now have a “lighthouse” customer that will hopefully prove Recombo’s ability to solve business problems.  As it stands, Recombo is providing a service and tools that bridge a common communication gap in training and education systems and, at least initially, this should give them an edge on the market.

Technical Innovation

At the time of this pitch Recombo seems to have an edge on the market.  After making changes to his company’s direction McPhee is confident that he has found a product and a service that is in need and cannot be met by competitive products.

Exit Strategy

McPhee is clear that success lies in a dollar amount for their business.  He is pushing for success through his “Lighthouse customer” which will expand their business by proving their publishing and learning management competencies.

If his company does not meet the goals laid out McPhee is honest with himself and comfortable with going public or selling to a larger corporation like IBM if need be.

Overall Investment Status

I think I would be willing to risk my capital investment to support Recombo.  It is clear that the company has changed greatly and maybe faltered slightly in the past but has quickly learned from its mistakes and adapted to the market both in their product offerings and overall strategies.

My evaluation of the Ingenia pitch is organized in a chart, which I hope will be legible. As you will see, I was not impressed with Ramona’s pitch. Not least for her complete disregard for the difficulties involved in brining Canadian intellectual talent up to speed with regards to the language and culture of another country. This pitch focused too much on the personal experience of the presenter, and not on the capabilities of the company.

Ok, here’s my first pitch analysis.  Next one to come later.

Royal Roads University Pitch

• CEO Credibility – Does this person exude capability and convey confidence that they will achieve success against all obstacles?
  • Based on the pitch presentation, Burgess does seem to have done her research and has a good working knowledge of the university.  She provides a confident, enthusiastic pitch, but to me, this appears to be due to her charisma rather than track record.  She does not present anything at all about her credentials or personal background that would help further sell her pitch.

• Management Team – Have they assembled a stellar team along with the other human and material resources required for success
  • There is no mention of a management team or who may be involved in instituting such a program.  I’m assuming there would be some faculty members or key people at RRU on board already.  This can’t be a solo effort, can it???  If so, forget it!  Establishing the management team clearly is needed in this pitch.

• Business Model – Is this feasible? – have they done their homework? – are their arguments and information accurate and compelling?
  • Burgess seems to provide good information on opencourseware, including some history, current opencourseware consortium, and how RRU fits in the market (benefiting and altruistic relations).  She has done her research based on a model of opencourseware from MIT, a much larger school.
  • Importantly, Burgess seems to suggest having opencourseware available to prospective students would help attract more tuition paying students to the school.  However, is there a guarantee that this would happen?  What is the cost of marketing this free, opencourseware?  Is there a guarantee that the university will be able to recover its marketing costs over time?

• Competitive Products – What is a realistic market size, market share and selling price that these products or services can capture in a very competitive world?
  • In following the footsteps of the much larger school, MIT, RRU would be in competition with MIT’s reputation, established program, and larger financial budget.  Burgess mentioned that there were over 200+ institutions involved in an opencourseware consortium so there must be many other universities that would be in competition with RRU.

• Market Readiness – How long and difficult is their critical path to success?
  • There does not appear to be any timeline provided for this venture.  How long will it take before the university sees a profit from attracting paying students to RRU by marketing their opencourseware?
  • There does not appear to be a market analysis performed to show the demand for opencourseware among prospective students.

• Technical Innovation – Do they have an edge, and can they keep it?
  • To me, what Burgess is pitching appears to be something that other universities are already doing.  There isn’t anything that sticks out that is different than what is already being done by RRU’s potential competitors.  This plan is obviously taking after MIT’s model.

• Exit Strategy – Do they really know what success looks like – is their destination clear
  • It appears that success would be measured based on attracting paying students to RRU as well as more experienced faculty.

• Overall Investment Status – Am I going to risk my investment capital on this proposition?
  • Though the presentation was well-prepared, it seemed somewhat ‘amateurish’ to me.  The video was filled cheesy text messages inserted on top of still-framed pictures of the university.  Between still-frames was low-quality, handy-cam video clips of Burgess providing some commentary.  Though the information presented was fairly good, I thought the low-quality, amateur-style video detracted from a ‘professional’ pitch.  As an EVA, I’m not sure I would entrust my money into what may seem like an amateur venturist.
  • Furthermore, I think more market analysis needs to be done and presented to demonstrate that there is demand for opencourseware.  Burgess needs to provide more persuasive evidence showing how the university stands to gain financially, not just in reputation, and how long it will take to recoup marketing costs.  After all, if this venture is a money losing one, then there is no way the university should go for it.

As an EVA I was impressed by the qualifications of the core team. The venture also had a clear focus. I was concerned that Ingenia’s experience in the past has mainly been with governments and that their proposed projects will be mainly with multinationals. I would want to find out more about how significant this switch would be. Ramona is aware of, and honest about, the stiff competition Ingenia faces in the North American market and proposes an overseas venture partly to avoid this competition.

As I watched the pitch I was reminded of a recent report by the Educational Policy Institute on the effects of the recession on post-secondary education. At the end of this report (pages 28-29) the authors claimed that in Asia and Africa there is a high demand for education branded by large Western universities, and that Canada has been slow to respond to this demand. I noted that Ramona mentioned the success of an Australian university in Vietnam. Of course, Ingenia is not a large Western university and it is not offering post-secondary education. However, Ramona mentions that there is a strong presence of multinational companies in Vietnam, which is Ingenia’s focus, and this would suggest that there is a demand for the kinds of services Ingenia provides.

I would like to know more about Ingenia’s partner team and their experience. I could see this partnership as helping to overcome some of the problems that might exist with the venture. There is a question about what products they plan to use, as I assume that they will have to support Vietnamese. I understand that most of the connections in Vietnam are dial-up and that this is why Ingenia is proposing to buy a low-bandwidth portal in BC, but the slow connections may have ramifications for how attractive elearning will be and again what products should be used. I would like to know more about what solutions they implemented in their previous experience in Vietnam. When she discusses the need for insurance, Ramona admits that it is a difficult market and I would want to know more about potential risks.

I noticed that the Canadian government offers some resources for Canadians considering doing business in Vietnam. http://www.canadainternational.gc.ca/vietnam/commerce_international/index.aspx?lang=eng